And the winner is...

BA-RUG OBAMA in a landslide!  Coming in with 100% of the popular vote after lots of comments via email and a couple on the blog itself, this one was the clear winner.  I called in two girlfriends (both of whom have style and taste in spades, of course) to get their in-person recommendations, and both agreed that bigger + bolder = better. 

So I spent the better part of an afternoon wrangling Mitt Rug-ney into its original packaging (not easy) and taping it up, and now it's all rolled up in the corner awaiting its return label.  One decision down; 52,734,083 to go.

Here's another view:

Ooh, nice tape measure on the mantel!

And I also thought I'd share this shot I took when we actually had all three rugs on the floor:

It kind of makes me happy, plus it really shows the color contrast between the two options.  And it also shows the desperately-needs-help upholstery on the Gold Chair (and its sad lumpy matching ottoman).  Holy Corduroy, Batman!  Note to self: get on that right away.

Next up: permanently affixing the slate tile to the fireplace hearth and trimming it out.  We thought we might get it done last weekend, but the tiling project was temporarily put on hold because of this guy:

So handsome, isn't he?  He's not ours-- he belongs to some very dear friends who asked us to poodle-sit while they took a quick jaunt to the coast this weekend-- but we were pretty busy taking him for long walks through the neighborhood, tossing squeaky toys to him, making him work for treats, and generally spoiling him rotten.  You try tiling when the dog you borrowed for the weekend really wants you to take a nap on the couch with him.  It's basically impossible.